Shell Agrees to $15.5 Million Settlement in Nigeria Case

On the eve of trial, Royal Dutch Shell late Monday agreed to pay $15.5
million to settle claims that the company, a subsidiary, and the head of
the company's Nigerian operations were complicit in the 1995 abuse and
hanging of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists protesting the
environmental impact of oil drilling in the Ogoni region of the Niger
Delta.

In an e-mailed statement, Judith Chomsky, cooperating attorney
with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the
plaintiffs, said, "The fortitude shown by our clients in the 13-year
struggle to hold Shell accountable has helped establish a principle
that goes beyond Shell and Nigeria--that corporations, no matter how
powerful, will be held to universal human rights standards."

The settlement does not resolve ongoing claims by the Ogoni
people, who negotiated separately. Shell, which continues to operate in
Nigeria, has insisted that the former Nigerian military government was
responsible for the executions that were carried out despite its pleas
for clemency. It did not acknowledge any wrongdoing but said it agreed
to settle the lawsuit in hopes of aiding the "process of
reconciliation."

"This gesture also acknowledges that, even though Shell had
no part in the violence that took place, the plaintiffs and others have
suffered," Malcolm Brinded, Shell's executive director of exploration and
production, said in a statement.